Text 1356, 175 rader
Skriven 2006-09-27 05:05:10 av Bob Hoffman (8:8/2)
Ärende: The Divine Light in Darkness
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Faith's Checkbook  

Charles H. Spurgeon
Sep 26, 2006

 

September 27 




The Divine Light in Darkness 

"For Thou wilt light my candle" (Psalm 18:28). 

It may be that my soul sits in darkness; and if this be of a spiritual kind, no
human power can bring me light. Blessed be God! He can enlighten my darkness
and at once light my candle. Even though I may be surrounded by a "darkness
which might be felt," yet He can break the gloom and immediately make it bright
around me. 

The mercy is that if He lights the candle none can blow it out, neither will it
go out for lack of substance, nor burn out of itself through the lapse of
hours. The lights which the LORD kindled in the beginning are shining still.
The LORD's lamps may need trimming, but He does not put them out. 

Let me, then, listen to the nightingale sing in the dark. Expectation shall
furnish me with music, and hope shall pitch the tune. Soon I shall rejoice in a
candle of God's lighting. I am dull and dreary just now. Perhaps it is the
weather, or bodily weakness, or the surprise of a sudden trouble; but whatever
has made the darkness, it is God alone who will bring the light. My eyes are
unto Him alone. I shall soon have the candles of the LORD shining about me;
and, further on in His own good time, I shall be where they need no candle,
neither light of the sun. Hallelujah! 





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The Value of Hanging Out   by Jim Elliff 

I have just spoken to a lady from Germany about her kids in college while my
Lebanese friend was standing by. Both work at the local coffee shop where I am
writing this piece. Just prior to that I spoke with other acquaintances from
South Korea who own a T-shirt business at the city market downtown. Business is
not so good for them right now, but they smile and talk with me most mornings
I'm there. 

I met yet another Korean worker at this shop this morning. It was our first
actual discussion, although we had said hello from time to time. She has only
been in the country for five months, and, much to my surprise, is a Sunday
School teacher at the Korean church in town. 

This is not all. Even earlier this morning I met my dentist for a time of
mentoring right here in the same place. Prior to that I had a great talk with
the building inspector for Parkville, the little town within Kansas City where
I have my office. I met another friend and had some discussion about spiritual
matters for a few moments prior that meeting. He manages the Christian
bookstore. I had a brief "hello" with his wife as she came in later. And I at
least got to wave to yet another friend who is one of the regulars at the shop.
He's the local chiropractor. 

Building relationships-this is the value of hanging out. I'm making a
determined effort to do that, and I wish to recommend it to you. Not just any
kind of hanging out will do, of course, but there is a purposeful hanging out
that I believe God smiles on. 

Not long ago I wrote this in my Commonplace Book, the notebook I use to record
my observations from my reading and thinking: "It is an interesting question:
What did Jesus do in a given week?" 

That simple question was answered by going through the book of Matthew. I wrote
fourteen pages of observations on the peripatetic life of Christ as to how
Christ employed his time. As a conclusion to it all I had to say that Jesus
basically just hung out. Of course, it was "divine" hanging out. 

Christ constantly moved about a small area, especially around Capernaum, which
could be considered his home town, and Bethany, the home of Lazarus, Mary, and
Martha, a favorite hub close to Jerusalem down south. He never kept hours or
had an office. He always "ate out." He never seemed to have organizational
meetings. He spent lots of time with his followers, dined with "sinners,"
answered lots of questions, taught when he could get a crowd or small group of
listeners, took special times to pray and get away to stay focused, made use of
the synagogues to raise issues, healed and did miracles. It seems that much of
his time was spent just being among people, and in that context he did what he
was sent to do. Paul, of course, did similarly. 

Now, we have to go to work. And that in itself is a mission field. And I do not
pretend to say that a person should not do that. But somehow along the way we
have forgotten how important it is to be among people in a way that lends
itself to relaxed, friendly, or even sometimes intense, philosophical talk.
Like fire comes from sparks falling on dry tinder, so God can and will do
things through us most powerfully when we are "in the context" of those we most
want to see impacted with our message. We must find some informal place for
meeting people. The rewards are too good to forfeit. 

If God has planted his love and the fruit of his spirit into you, that amazing
work of God is largely wasted if we stay away from people. When a man or woman
is full of godly character, that simply must be seen somehow or it is like
"hiding our light under a bushel." If you are somebody in Christ (and you are),
then let it be observed by getting in the right context. "Let your light so
shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who
is in heaven." 

Here is the idea: 
1. Find a hanging out place, or several, in your area. This will be easier for
some than others. I've even spent some time in the local hamburger place. For
most this will have to be early in the morning before work, but others may be
able to invest a bit more. The morning usually attracts the "regulars" that you
will be best able to connect with.  2. Learn the names of the people you meet.
It is good to jot their names down somewhere for reference. 
3. Take your Bible and spend time reading it, writing notes in your notebook,
or reading a good Christian book while out.  4. Keep a friendly, approachable
look about you. Speak to people. Introduce yourself and find out about them.
Focus much of your talk on them. They'll also be curious about you. 
5. Seek to get to the layer of philosophical talk. What do these new friends
believe about important issues of life and death? This makes for deeper and
more significant relationships. 
6. You will find that they will be curious about you and your beliefs also.
Talk freely about what you believe and how you approach life.  7. Make friends,
real friends, who will be important to you no matter what their spiritual
preferences are. Love them for who they are.  8. If you have read something
interesting that you can pass on, by all means do so, especially if it has
something to do with the true love of your life, Jesus Christ. 
9. Expect God to do something. Christians make a difference! You might help a
fellow believer or a person who does not have a spiritual bone in his body. You
never know what God may be doing. The world reacts and responds to "lighted"
Christians. 
If you had just three years to make a major impact on the world, what would you
do? Jesus spent His three years in constant motion, being with people as much
as possible, and pulling away as necessary to pray and meditate. He gave
special attention to the disciples, but, regardless, it was people that Jesus
was about. 
Now I realize my proposal can be misunderstood in a world that majors on
production. Many rate their importance by how busy they appear to be. Well,
there is a lot that I do and my wife sometimes calls me a workaholic, but I'm
seeing things a bit better these days. I would like to be more like Christ who
felt it was of utmost importance to be around people as much as possible.  And,
hey, I've written this article while I've been hanging out! 


Copyright (c) 2003 Jim Elliff 
Permission granted to copy in full for non-profit use, including all copyright
information. 
Other uses require written permission.  www.CCWonline.org 






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